Listen to albums all the way through

The album as an art form in a playlist-led world

Sep 22, 2024

Not to sound like a boomer at my tender age of 26… But do kids have first albums any more? You know, like how you’d have that first album you owned, and it was all you listened to?

My first album was a CD — Light Years by the one and only Kylie Minogue. I can’t remember how it came into my possession, but I can picture the silvery grey CD player and in my mind it contained a pink CD. A bit of searching has me thinking this might be a false memory because I can’t find any pictures of the album CD being pink.

The first album I bought myself was Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway and this I remember listening to on repeat on my mini iPod thing (because it wasn’t an iPod, but I don’t know what it was) during a seven-hour bus ride to and from Bradford on a school trip. Other musical memories of this trip are Justin Bieber’s Baby and the song Replay which I’ve always had a soft spot for because of this specific memory of being twelve years old and dancing to it in a bowling alley on a trip to study the Industrial Revolution. Oh, the unique and intimate memories that art allows us.

The last album I remember physically owning (ahead of getting a vinyl player in the last couple of years) was Taylor Swift’s 1989. The album was given to me on my 17th birthday, and it was also the year I learnt to drive. That album played on repeat in my car unless someone bothered to connect to the stereo with a wire. For three years. It saw us through journeys to parties with bottles of alcohol rolling about in the boot and the journey home the next morning through the MacDonald’s drive through. It went everywhere with us.

What I’m saying is that albums hold memories. At least for me. They capture the moment when you listened to them. They hold stories and they tell stories. I know people date their playlists and, look, I love a playlist, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s the same.

When Billie Elliesh’s latest album released, she urged listeners to play it the whole way through. Start to finish. None of this shuffle shit. And as I’ll get on to, there’s a reason musicians ask this of us. Music can tell us as much of a story as a book. And we don’t read a book’s chapters out of order.

Perhaps it is because my partner is a musician, but in recent years I’ve returned to listening to albums in full. In order. And I thought to those who might be interested in doing the same, I’d share my current favourite album’s to listen to.

Billie Eilish — HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Billie Eilish simply had to be first. Since listening to HMHAS I have concluded that Billie Eilish is simply in her own league. That is no disrespect to any of Eilish’s contemporaries, but HMHAS is exactly what an album should be. It is a story. It is a cohesive body of work. Songs flow from one to another, and motifs are repeated. This is my favourite album of Eilish’s to date, and it makes me really excited for what her and Finneas will do next. A fantastic album for journeys.

Sabrina Carpenter — Short n’Sweet

The album is exactly what it says it will be — it’s short and sweet. This is a non-skip album that can raise your spirits. When I listen, I am transformed into someone sexy and single. Taste is a banger. And Juno, well… Juno really scratches an itch. I love listening this album on my morning commute, during afternoon slumps, and on runs. It’s energising, fun, and a lot better than I thought it would be.

Ethel Cain — Preacher’s Daughter

I take recommendations very seriously. There is nothing I respect more than a recommendation from someone whose taste I trust. And this was a recommendation. The sort of recommendation that comes with listening instructions. It was ‘sit down and listen to this’ album, don’t have it on in the background. Actually listen to it. Ideally at night. I admittedly listened to this album on a plane, but it was still brilliant. It’s a concept album, so it’s really telling a story. The lyrics are divine, and it’s incredibly interesting musically. So go, sit down, and listen.

Ashe — Wilson

A last minute addition here because this album came out while I was writing this piece, and it’s been on repeat since. I adore Ashe; from her last releases, Moral of the Story and Save Myself were my standouts. Again it’s great lyrically and Ashe has such an interesting voice with so much range stylistically. Another good album for journeys or walking through autumn and embracing the transitional.

Now that's a thought

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